The LifeArc-Kidney Research UK Centre for Rare Diseases

Meet Dr Louise Oni: Director of the LifeArc-Kidney Research UK Centre for Rare Kidney Diseases

Dr Louise Oni is senior lecturer in paediatric nephrology at the University of Liverpool and honorary consultant paediatric nephrologist at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, who is leading the LifeArc-Kidney Research UK Centre for Rare Kidney Diseases.​

"My name is Louise Oni, and as a researcher and clinician working with children who have rare kidney diseases, I spend a lot of time with young people whose early years are filled with appointments, procedures, and illness.​

"If a child spends two or three years on dialysis, they can’t get that time back. It’s gone. But what if we could find a way to slow down or stop the progression of childhood kidney disease? What if we could prevent children’s kidneys failing, or at least delay it into adulthood? Can you imagine the difference that would make to them?​

"Instead of hours and hours and hours connected to a machine that cleans their blood, they could be doing all the things children should be doing. Playing, having fun. That’s our goal at the new LifeArc-Kidney Research UK Centre for Rare Kidney Diseases.​

“At the moment, the work on new treatments and the systems to test new treatments in research of rare diseases are designed for adults. We know that around 75% of rare diseases will begin in childhood, so we need to invest in improving the systems and encouraging everyone to include children in research to allow new treatments to reach the patients with the biggest need.”​

Kidney Research UK is also proud to be supporting Louise in her own important research into a disease called immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis, a disease more common in children which causes inflammation of the blood vessels, which can cause kidney damage. ​

We asked Louise about how she became interested in children's kidney medicine.​

“I first became interested in children’s medicine whilst working at Manchester Children’s Hospital where I was lucky enough to be able to rotate between the different departments. It was the children’s kidney team there who inspired me into the world of kidney diseases, and I was fascinated by the range of work, including managing patients who were very acutely unwell to those who have long-term kidney diseases.​

“This inspired me to begin a career in children’s kidney medicine that then went on to include a laboratory research career after I spent time with the incredible research team at Bristol Renal. I then had the opportunity to do a PhD at Alder Hey Children's Hospital looking at inflammatory kidney disease and that kick started a career dedicated to children’s kidney disease.”​

At the moment, Dr Oni is one of only a few university employed research doctors in the whole of the UK. The new research centre will create many more opportunities to attract brilliant new people to kidney science and develop their skills. The patients of the future will be in good hands.​